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MORMOJSTISM: 


AN  ADDRESS, 


BY 


HON.  D.  C.  HASKELL,  M.  C.,  OF  KANSAS, 
// 

AT   THE   NATIONAL   ANNIVERSARY   OF   THE   AMERICAN   HOME   MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY,    IN    CHICAGO,    JUNE   8,    1881. 


NEW   YORK: 

THE   AMERICAN   HOME   MISSIONARY   SOCIETY. 

1881. 


Bancroft  Library 


ADDRESS. 


THE  history  of  the  founding  of  a  nation,  the  rise  and  progress  of  a  re- 
ligious sect,  or  order,  the  primary  steps  in  the  organization  of  society, 
whether  on  old  plans  or  new,  present  many  features  in  common.  Old 
methods  clad  in  renovated  garb  are  often  employed  by  peculiar  agents, 
under  unusual  circumstances  ;  occasionally  a  new  idea  presents  itself,  or  an 
old  one  long  since  discarded  is  reproduced  in  a  new  setting,  but  if  the 
nation,  sect,  or  order  be  successful,  the  record  is  full  of  interest. 

The  Mormon  articles  of  faith,  considered  separately,  are  most  ancient ; 
as  a  creed  its  novelty  is  in  its  grouping. 

The  world  is  proffered,  by  this  organization  which  we  are  about  to  con- 
sider, a  bundle  of  religious  dogmas  that,  taken  as  a  whole,  without  knowl- 
edge of  the  existence  of  a  church  which  professed  to  accept  them,  would 
be  regarded  by  the  theological  student  as  intended  for  a  caricature  of  the 
religious  idea.  The  Mormon  hierarchy  has  resurrected  also  a  system  of 
social  relationship  which  at  best  is  but  a  bestial  relic  of  barbarism,  and  has 
thrust  it  forward  with  a  zeal  and  a  tenacity  of  purpose  that,  while  it  im- 
peaches both  their  wisdom  and  their  purity,  surprises  us  into  a  sort  of  ad- 
miration for  their  misemployed  courage. 

After  the  whole  civilized  world  has  branded  polygamy  as  a  crime,  a  re- 
ligious sect,  professedly  more  Christian  than  any  other,  claiming  to  be  led 
day  by  day  by  divine  revelation,  coming  through  an  infallible  priesthood, 
has  succeeded  in  establishing  it  here — in  the  "United  States — and  so  firmly, 
that  it  has  resisted  for  over  thirty  years  all  efforts  to  dislodge  it,  either  by 
moral  or  governmental  force.  However  corrupt  and  unscrupulous  their 
leaders  may  be,  the  Mormon  people  will  be  found  to  be  not  without  virtues, 
and  to  present  commendable  features.  This  fact  serves  to  make  the  con- 
tinuance of  this,  their  "peculiar  institution"  all  the  more  an  obstacle 
and  a  peril  to  Christian  civilization. 

A  history  in  detail  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Mormon  church, 
from  the  discovery  in  New  York  of  the  mystic  plates  from  'which  it  is  al- 
leged Joseph  Smith  and  his  coadjutors  translated  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
rivals  in  interest  the  Homeric  tales  of  the  adventures  of  Achilles. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  would-be  believer  in  Mormonism  that  a  celes- 

f©35 


tial  messenger  very  early  became  the  custodian  of  those  wonderful  tablets. 
More  unfortunate  that  Professor  Anthon,  the  distinguished  linguist,  should 
have  pronounced  the  whole  thing  a  hoax,  and  after  an  examination  of  a 
copy  of  the  characters  upon  the  plates  declared  them  to  be  "a  singular 
medley  of  Greek,  Hebrew  and  all  sorts  of  letters,  ending  in  a  rude  repre- 
sentation of  the  Mexican  Zodiac."  And  most  unfortunate  that  the  three 
principal  witnesses  to  the  divine  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  Oliver 
Cowdery,  David  Whitmer  and  Martin  Harris,  were  charged  by  the  Mor- 
mons themselves,  as  early  as  1838,  with  lying,  theft  and  counterfeiting,  and 
11  cut  off"  from  the  church. 

However,  in  1830  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  published,  and  it  has  since 
been  translated  into  various  foreign  languages.  In  April  of  that  year, 
"The  Church  of  Christ"  was  organized  in  Seneca  County,  New  York,  with 
six  members.  A  revelation  from  the  Lord  commanded  the  New  York 
saints,  soon  after,  to  remove  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  where  Sidney  Bigdon,  an 
early  convert,  had  secured  some  accessions  to  the  church,  and  at  that  place 
was  built  the  first  Mormon  house  of  worship,  in  1836.  Here  Brigham 
Young,  a  painter  and  glazier,  a  native  of  Vermont,  but  at  that  time  a  resi- 
dent of  New  York,  joined  his  fortunes  to  those  of  Smith  and  the  church, 
in  1833. 

A  special  revelation  gave  to  Smith  and  Bigdon  the  outlines  of  a  finan- 
cial system,  but  it  was  not  potent  enough  to  save  the  bank  they  organized 
from  the  fate  of  similar  "  wild  cat "  institutions,  and  in  January,  1838, 
these  two  worthies  fled  from  Kirtland,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  toward  a 
new  Zion  that  had  been  located  in  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  followed  by 
a  band  of  infuriated  creditors,  from  whom  they  barely  escaped.  The  in- 
tent of  the  pursuers,  according  to  Gentile  authorities,  was  to  administer 
justice.  The  fleeing  bankers,  however,  denominated  the  pursuit  persecu- 
tion. Up  to  the  date  of  this  hegira,  the  members  of  the  new  church  had 
been  deemed  fanatical,  but  honest.  The  Kirtland  Colony  was  soon 
after  broken  up,  and  the  eastern  Mormons  removed  to  Jackson  County, 
Missouri. 

A  fiery  anniversary  speech  made  by  Bigdon,  in  which  he  threatened 
the  enemies  of  the  church  with  bloody  retribution  for  the  persecutions  it 
had  suffered,  aggravated  the  troubles  that  had  existed  between  the  Mor- 
mons and  their  Missouri  neighbors,  and  the  result  was  several  bloody  en- 
counters, and  numerous  prosecutions  in  the  courts  resulting  therefrom. 
The  troubles  finally  culminated.  Gov.  Boggs  made  a  call  on  the  militia  of 
the  State  and  issued  an  order  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons,  or  their 
extermination,  branding  them  as  the  enemies  of  the  State,  living  in  the  at- 
titude of  "open  and  avowed  defiance  of  its  laws." 

Prior  to  this  time  the  revelations  which  had  come  to  the  prophet 
Smith,  had  assured  them  that  the  "  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon  " 
would  protect  them,  but  when  their  expulsion  from  Missouri  was  assured 
and  about  to  be  consummated,  the  revelations  fortunately  changed  in  tone, 


and  Smith  set  himself  to  the  task  of  perfecting  an  organization  for  his  peo- 
ple, that  might  be  relied  upon  to  give  potency  to  these  "divine  decrees." 

The  incidents  attendant  upon  their  forced  retirement  from  Missouri 
created  for  them  something  of  sympathy  abroad,  and,  moved  by  the  recitals 
of  the  wrongs  they  had  suffered,  certain  citizens  of  Illinois  offered  them  an 
asylum  in  that  State.  A  convenient  revelation  induced  them  to  select  a 
spot  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  above  Quincy,  and  the  scattered 
saints  gathered  in  the  little  town  of  Commerce,  afterward  named  Nauvoo. 
It  is  estimated  that  they  numbered  at  this  time  about  two  thousand  souls. 
During  their  occupancy  of  Missouri,  they  were  distributed  through  several 
counties,  and  a  few  of  them  had  penetrated  as  far  south  and  west  as  what 
is  now  the  Cherokee  country  of  the  Indian  Territory. 

In  1842,  it  is  stated,  that  Smith  predicted  the  establishment  of  the 
Mormons  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  foretold  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  indi- 
cated his  intention  of  founding  a  new  and  theocratic  government,  turned 
his  attention  to  politics,  casting  the  Mormon  vote  alternately  with  the  Whig 
and  Democratic  parties,  as  the  interests  of  his  church  would  seem  to  de- 
mand. In  1844  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States,  but  in  the  same  year  was  taken  from  the  jail  in  Carthage,  Illinois, 
where  he  had  been  lodged  to  await  trial  for  various  alleged  crimes,  and 
killed  by  a  mob.  In  1846  and  '47,  an  advance  or  exploring  party,  under 
Brigham  Young,  visited  Salt  Lake  Valley,  established  a  colony,  and  built 
a  fort.  In  1848  the  Mormons  gathered  there  founded  Salt  Lake  City. 
Brigham  Young  having  assumed  Smith's  place  as  head  of  the  church  and 
prophet  of  the  Lord. 

Without  at  this  time  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  many  difficulties  they  encountered,  without  asserting  the  truth 
or  falsity  of  the  many  charges  preferred  against  them,  it  is,  perhaps, 
enough  to  say  that  they  were  charged  with  all  the  crimes  in  the  catalogue, 
and  that  from  the  time  they  left  Kirtland,  up  to  1870,  they  displayed  a 
conspicuous  inability  to  live  in  peace  with  their  Gentile  neighbors.  The 
same  causes  that  led  to  the  hegira  from  Kirtland,  seems  in  large  part 
to  have  induced  their  expulsion  from  Missouri,  and  their  forced  exodus 
from  Nauvoo ;  in  this  last  flight  abandoning  homes,  farms,  and  culti- 
vated fields,  a  town  half  as  large  as  Salt  Lake  City,  and  an  almost  com- 
pleted temple  that  had  cost  them  nearly  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  was  ever  exhibited  in  the  world's  history  a  greater 
or  a  worse  managed  zeal,  a  more  hopeless  fanaticism,  or  a  stronger  faith  in 
a  grander  imposture,  than  that  which  characterized  the  Mormons  in  this 
unparalleled  movement.  They  started  in  mid-winter,  homeless,  hungry, 
sick  and  illy  clad.  They  crossed  over  the  Mississippi  River  on  the  ice,  fol- 
lowing with  unfaltering  faith  the  directions  of  the  Holy  Twelve,  and  began 
that  long  dreary  march  of  death  across  Iowa  and  the  Missouri,  over  the  al- 
most trackless  plains,  past  the  craggy  peaks  of  the  Rockies,  into  the  ap- 
parently barren  valley  of  Salt  Lake,  there  to  found  a  community,  trans- 


6 

form  a  desert  into  a  garden  by  their  industry,  all  at  the  behest  of  a  corrupt, 
priestly  oligarchy,  in  behalf  of  a  religious  system,  mephitic,  retrogressive 
and  adulterate,  that  wounds  Christian  civilization  everywhere  most  sorely, 
and  taints  American  society  with  a  moral  gangrene. 

In  that  valley,  the  saints  hoped  to  see  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecies 
that  had  promised  them  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  earthly  Zion, 
and  an  independent  and  theocratic  government  for  their  State,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Deseret.  Congress,  however,  in  1850,  ignored 
"Deseret,"  and  established  a  territorial  government  over  "Utah."  Presi- 
dent Fillmore  appointed  Brigham  Young  Governor,  S.  M.  Blair  United 
States  Attorney,  J.  L.  Heywood  United  States  Marshal,  and  for  the  first 
time  a  polygamist,  whose  eight  wives  had  been  privately  sealed  to  him, 
became  a  part  of  the  executive  machinery  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. In  1855  Brigham  Young  was  re-appointed  by  President  Pierce. 

In  the  early  history  of  Utah,  much  to  the  disgrace  of  the  nation,  many 
of  the  federal  officers,  Gentiles,  allowed  themselves  to  be  courted  by  the 
Mormon  authorities,  merely  to  secure  undue  official  favor.  Some  even 
lived  in  open  debauchery,  and  of  course  were  utterly  in  the  power  of 
Young  and  the  priesthood.  Others,  if  favorable  to  the  church,  seemed  to 
possess  the  power  of  saving  quite  large  sums  of  money  from  quite  small 
salaries,  and  were  held  in  high  repute.  Others,  if  unfavorable  while  they 
remained  poor,  were  nevertheless  found  soon  to  be  great  thieves  and 
rascals,  and  were  removed  from  office.  One  obdurate  wretch  was  dis- 
covered dead  in  his  bed,  soon  after  a  quarrel  with  Brigham  Young.  The 
Mormon  investigators  said  he  died  of  "  some  disease  of  the  head,"  others 
said  "  opium,"  and  an  occasional  Gentile,  "poison."  It  is  not  difficult  to 
see  how,  in  this  condition  of  affairs,  the  saints  were  enabled  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  their  civil  and  religious  structure  so  broad  and  deep  that 
they  have  successfully  resisted  all  efforts  to  undermine  them. 

In  185G  Utah  had  become  a  very  Babylon  of  moral  uncleanness,  so  rot- 
ten as  to  shock  even  Brigham  Young,  when  he  became  aware  of  its  extent, 
for  it  seriously  threatened  the  stability  of  his  government.  The  "  Keform- 
ation  "  of  1856-7  followed,  wherein  elders  of  the  church  openly  preached 
the  shedding  of  blood  for  the  graver  crimes  against  their  ecclesiastical  law, 
and  "  saints "  were  taught  to  earn  salvation  by  what  we  call  murder  and 
suicide.  The  church  was  purified  and  strengthened  by  the  most  arbitrary 
and  atrocious  methods  known  to  a  priestly  despotism,  but  the  escaping 
apostates  and  the  Gentiles  gave  to  the  world  glimpses  of  polygamous  Mor- 
monism  that  thoroughly  aroused  the  whole  country,  and  in  1856  a  political 
party  placed  upon  its  banners  the  motto  :  "  The  abolition  of  slavery  and 
polygamy,  twin  relics  of  barbarism."  That  party  is  in  power  to-day.  On 
the  24th  of  July,  1857,  Brigham  Young  declared  the  independence  of  De- 
seret, and  began  preparation  for  war  with  the  United  States.  On  the 
15th  of  September  the  Mountain  Meadow  Massacre  occurred. 

It  is  impossible  at  the  present  time  to  enter  upon  a  recital  of  this  and 


other  horrors  that  so  stain  the  pages  of  Mormon  history,  during  the  era 
known  to  the  Mormon  church  as  the  Reformation,  in  fact  between  the 
years  1850  and  1860.  The  Mormon  priesthood  is  largely  responsible  for 
them,  since  they  not  only  controlled  the  local  government,  but  preached 
the  doctrines  that  in  their  practical  application  produced  the  results*  The 
Mormon  war  ended  in  the  expenditure  of  much  treasure,  but  happily  of 
little  blood.  It  proved  what  wars  always  prove — that  one  party  was 
stronger  than  the  other — nothing  more.  It  changed  no  one's  opinion,  save 
possibly  on  that  point.  It  left  the  Mormon  church  where  it  found  it,  in- 
trenched in  ignorance  and  fanaticism.  It  did  produce,  however,  a  change 
in  policy.  The  church  wisely  threw  away  its  arms,  but  it  invoked  the  aid 
of  its  present  allies,  silence,  secrecy,  and  cunning. 

The  war  having  ended,  the  federal  officers  returned  to  the  Territory. 
Young,  seeing  that  he  could  not  resist  the  United  States  authorities  by 
force  of  arms,  organized  his  church  for  resistance  to  the  execution  of  law, 
by  wily  maneuvers  and  secret  policies  of  obstruction.  The  courts  were 
unable  to  punish  treason,  or  any  other  crime,  and  it  is  stated  that  one 
United  States  judge  entered  upon  his  docket  this  declaration  :  "  The  whole 
community  presents  an  united  and  organized  opposition  to  the  administra- 
tion of  justice."  Government  warrants  were  forged,  murders  committed, 
robberies  perpetrated,  almost  with  impunity.  The  government  at  Wash- 
ington declared  that  the  military  could  only  be  used  on  the  call  of  the 
Governor.  The  Governor  would  not  make  the  call.  The  courts  were 
powerless,  and  crime  went  unpunished.  Congressional  investigation  was 
asked  for,  but  Congress,  with  its  usual  slow  conservatism,  by  the  time  the 
petitioners  reached  Washington  with  their  papers,  generally  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  crimes  were  old  and  stale,  and  refused  its  aid. 

The  following  from  a  letter  to  the  President,  by  a  Federal  officer  of 
Utah,  written  in  1874,  will  explain  one  of  the  difficulties  encountered  at 
that  time  :  "Brigham  Young,"  says  the  writer,  "  is  very  rich,  made  so  by 
the  most  high-handed  impositions  upon  his  deluded  people.  Of  late  years 
he  has  become  rapidly  richer.  He  has  repeatedly  boasted  in  public  of  what 
he  claims  to  have  done  with  money  in  Washington.  It  is  known  that  he 
keeps  emissaries  there  during  every  session  of  Congress.  Within  the  last 
few  years,  the  Cullom  bill,  the  Voorhees  bill,  the  Logan  bill,  and  the  Mc- 
Kee  bill,  have  all  gone  to  their  graves,  and  now  the  Poland  bill  seems  to  be 
dying." 

The  last  attempt  made  for  admission  into  the  Union  was  in  1873.  The 
Territory  had  then,  and  has  now,  a  sufficient  population.  The  Mormons 
declare  that  they  are  denied  admission  because  of  the  unpopularity  of  their 
religion.  It  is  due  rather  to  the  unpopularity  of  polygamy.  The  popula- 
tion of  Utah,  in  1870,  was  about  88,000.  Salt  Lake  City  at  that  time  con- 
tained a  population  of  about  12,000.  The  population  of  Utah,  as  shown  by 
the  recent  census,  is  143,906,  of  which  there  are,  males,  74,470  ;  females, 
69,436.  Salt  Lake  has  20,768  souls.  We  have  no  data,  as  yet,  from  the 


8 

census  office,  showing  the  number  of  Mormons  and  Gentiles,  respectively, 
in  Utah,  but  the  estimates  range  from  10  to  20  per  cent.,  as  Gentiles,  out 
of  the  entire  population. 

While  there  is  a  larger  number  of  females,  proportionately,  than  in 
most  of  the  Territories,  there  seems  to  be  in  Utah,  even  under  polygamous 
practices,  more  males  than  females,  as  there  is  also  in  the  world's  popula- 
tion ;  and  the  Mormon  argument  in  defense  of  polygamy,  that  wifehood 
should  not  be  denied  to  any  woman  who  so  desires,  does  not  appear  to 
have  much  weight,  since  there  is  not  even  one  wife  for  each  male  citizen. 
Human  nature  is  the  same,  the  world  over,  and  unless  under  some  sort 
of  duress,  from  law,  or  fanaticism,  or  priestly  coercion,  no  moderately  in- 
telligent woman  would,  of  her  own  free  will,  choose  a  polygamous  wife- 
hood.  In  the  full  knowledge  of  her  rights,  and  given  power  to  maintain 
them,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  she  would  not  be  content  with  the  sixteenth 
part  of  her  rightful  property,  be  that  property,  real  estate,  bank  stock,  or 
husband. 

Hon.  George  Q.  Cannon,  Mormon  Delegate  1o  Congress,  from  Utah,  in 
the  May  number  of  the  North  American  Review,  writes  as  follows  : 

u  It  is  seldom  that,  even  among  the  intelligent  and  well-read,  one  can  be  found 
who  can  give  a  correct  statement  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  or  Mor- 
mons, or  who  can  explain  the  true  character  of  their  system." 

Quite  true,  and  there  are  many  reasons  therefor. 

1st.  It  will  be  found  very  difficult  to  harmonize  Mormon  authorities. 

2d.  The  careful  student  of  Mormon  theology  and  Mormon  history  will 
not  fail  to  notice  that  the  written  doctrines  and  covenants  are  not  entirely 
harmonious  with  the  practices  of  the  church. 

3d.  The  Mormon  doctrine  of  special  revelations  from  God  to  an  infalli- 
ble priesthood  makes  it  nearly  impossible  to  state  with  critical  accuracy 
the  doctrines  of  Mr.  Cannon's  church. 

It  leaves  his  people  to  be  guided  by  their  priesthood  in  whatever  road 
of  faith  and  practice  they  may  mark  out.  Their  prophet  is  their  lawgiver, 
who  speaks  as  he  is  inspired.  Said  Heber  C.  Kimball,  one  of  the  Apostles, 
in  1856  : 

"  I  have  often  said  that  the  word  of  our  Leader  and  Prophet  is  the  word  of  God 
to  this  people.  We  cannot  see  God.  We  cannot  hold  converse  with  him,  but  he  has 
given  us  a  man  that  we  can  talk  to  and  thereby  know  his  will,  just  as  well  as  if  God 
himself  were  present  with  us." 

Mr.  Cannon  says  that  the  Mormon  church  accepts  the  Bible  as  its 
guide,  and  that  it  teaches  that  salvation  is  to  be  hoped  for  through  Jesus 
Christ.  It  also  accepts  the  Book  of  Mormon,  "  The  Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nant," and  various  alleged  revelations  to  Joseph  Smith  and  others.  As- 
suming to  base  their  theological  structure  on  the  Bible,  they  displace  a 
large  portion  of  it,  by  the  adoption  of  the  Book  of  Mormon ;  the  Doctrine 
and  Covenants  set  at  naught  a  considerable  part  of  the  Book  of  Mormon, 


9 

and  the  special  revelations  make  a  wretched  havoc  with  the  Doctrine  and 
Covenants. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  purports  to  be  the  history  of  a  few  families  who 
left  Jerusalem  or  the  East,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Jewish  nation.  They 
were  directed  and  controlled  by  revelation  from  God,  and  crossed  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  to  the  west  coast  of  America,  now  Central  America,  working 
their  way  to  the  north  and  east.  They  increased  in  numbers  for  a  while 
rapidly,  but  finally  became  embroiled  with  savage  tribes,  and  were  exter- 
minated in  a  great  battle  fought  about  400  or  500,  A.D.,  near  the  place 
where  the  plates  were  discovered  by  Joseph  Smith.  Moroni,  son  of  Mor- 
mon, a  general  in  their  army,  had  charge  of  the  records  of  the  nation,  and 
engraved  a  portion  of  them  on  the  plates  which  Smith  afterward  trans- 
lated. The  book  is  a  clumsy  imitation  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  full  of 
unpardonable  inaccuracies  of  all  sorts,  and  seems  to  have  been  inspired  by 
a  contemplation  of  the  possible  adventures  of  that  pre-historic  race,  known 
to  the  American  archeologist  as  the  Mound-Builders.  The  Doctrine  and 
Covenants  is  a  compilation  of  the  revelations  to  Smith,  with  a  chapter  con- 
taining declarations  of  belief. 

Their  faith,  accepting  their  own  acknowledged  authorities,  includes  the 
following  points  of  doctrine  : 

Its  foundation,  they  claim,  is  Biblical  and  Christian.  Then  follow  the 
revelations  to  Joseph  Smith  ;  then  those  to  Young  and  Taylor,  coupled 
with  a  belief  that  men'  of  the  church  are  inspired  now  as  of  old ;  next  an 
infallible  Priesthood  ;  a  divinely  instructed  President,  or  Prophet ;  a  belief 
in  a  theocratic  form  of  government ;  a  plurality  of  Gods ;  Godhood  of 
Adam  ;  the  imparting  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  the 
priesthood  ;  a  belief  in  dreams,  visions,  miracles,  and  the  gift  of  healing  ; 
baptism  by  immersion ;  remission  of  sins  by  baptism  ;  baptism  for  the 
dead  ;  blood  atonement,  or  the  power  of  the  church  to  decree  death  for 
violations  of  the  law  of  the  church  ;  celestial  marriages,  or  the  marriage 
state  after  death  ;  plurality  of  wives ;  Godhood  attained  by  mortals  after 
death ;  humanity  of  the  Deity  or  Deities ;  resurrection  of  the  body  in 
bodily  form ;  rejection  of  lazy  men  from  salvation  ;  the  assertion  that 
Christ  was  a  polygamist.  In  the  original  "  Articles  of  Faith,"  contained 
in  the  "Pearl  of  Great  Price,"  occurs  the  very  significant  and  truthful  dec- 
laration :  "We  believe  all  things,  we  hope  all  things." 

It  is  noticeable  that  this  extraordinary  organization  offers  a  bit  of  spirit- 
ual pabulum  to  persons  of  every  nation,  tribe,  and  religion,  from  the  Hot- 
tentot up.  There  is  no  system  that  has  provided  for  its  advocates  a  wider 
range  of  doctrine.  If  the  Mormon  is  true  to  the  church,  he  may  accept 
almost  everything  that  was  ever  inserted  in  a  religious  creed ;  or,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  practice,  as  little  as  may  suit  his  convenience.  But 
he  must  be  true  to  the  church,  its  work,  and  its  priesthood.  The  infernal 
regions  yawn  for  an  apostate.  The  power  of  Mormonism,  however,  can 
hardly  be  traced  to  the  tenacity  with  which  its  adherents  cling  to  their 


10 

dogmas.  The  almost  marvelous  organization  of  its  elaborate  priesthood 
is  what  holds,  chains,  and  subdues  them,  with  its  mystic  forms  and  secret 
ceremonies.  Its  fingers  of  steel  within  the  glove  of  velvet  never  relax 
their  grasp  upon  minds  at  once  ignorant  and  superstitious. 

Mr.  Cannon  asserts  for  his  people,  a  belief  in  the  Bible.  Will  he  state 
by  whom  or  by  what  the  Bible  is  to  be  construed  ?  His  statement  is  liable 
to  mislead.  Let  me  quote  from  good  Mormon  authority,  P.  P.  Pratt,  in 
his  "Key  to  Theology"  : 

11  A  General  Assembly,  Quorum  or  Grand  Council  of  the  Gods,  with  their  President 
at  their  head,  constitutes  the  designing  and  creative  power." 

This  polytheistic  declaration  presents  a  little  different  version  from 
the  ordinary  construction  given  to  the  book  of  Genesis,  as  to  the  creative 
power.  The  following,  from  the  same  author,  is  not  usually  found  in  Sun- 
day-school catechisms  : 

"  An  immortal  man,  possessing  a  perfect  organization  of  spirit,  flesh  and  bones, 
and  perfect  in  his  attributes,  in  all  the  fulness  of  celestial  glory,  is  called  a  God. 

"  An  immortal  man  in  progress  of  perfection,  or  quickened  with  a  lesser  degree  of 
glory,  is  called  an  Angel. 

"  An  immortal  spirit  of  man,  not  united  with  a  fleshly  tabernacle,  is  called  a  Spirit. 

*'  An  immortal  man,  clothed  with  a  mortal  tabernacle,  is  called  a  Man. 

The  doctrine  of  "blood  atonement,"  says  Mr.  Cannon,  "and  all  there 
is  about  that  charge,  ....  is  that  the  people  believe  in  the  Biblical  doc- 
trine that  men  who  commit  murder,  adultery,  and  other  gross  crimes,  should 
be  executed,  and  as  they  do  not  believe  in  hanging,  one  of  their  early  laws 
gives  the  criminal  convicted  of  murder  the  privilege  of  electing  the  mode 
of  execution."  The  italics  have  been  supplied.  Here  is  an  admission  that 
deserves  notice.  It  has  been  charged  and  denied  that  in  days  past  the 
Mormons  had  sanctioned  murder.  Here  is  an  admission  of  a  belief  in  blood 
atonement.  Scores  of  other  witnesses,  out  of  the  church,  testify  that  it 
has  been  practiced.  Since  Mr.  Cannon  admits  the  belief,  must  we  deny  the 
evidence  of  those  who  assert  the  practice  ? 

The  facts  are  that  the  Mormon  church  made  for  itself  laws.  For  the 
infraction  of  some  of  them,  it  attached  the  death  penalty.  It  then  pro- 
ceeded to  execute  those  laws,  and  put  to  death  by  peculiar  processes, 
parties  who  had  been  adjudged  guilty,  by  the  competent  legal  tribunal 
having  jurisdiction.  Under  stress  of  religious  fanaticism,  some  of  the 
parties  adjudged  guilty  under  these  ecclesiastical  rules  executed  the  law 
upon  themselves,  and  by  dictation  of  the  priesthood.  Stripped  of  all  dis- 
guises, all  subterfuges  exposed,  this  was  simply  murder  and  suicide. 

For  proof  of  the  teachings  of  the  church  on  the  subject  of  blood  atone- 
ment, it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  files  of  the  Deseret  News  for  the 
years  1855  and  1856. 

For  the  future  home  and  state  of  man,  the  Mormon  church  drops  the 


11 

Bible,  and  takes  up  a  vision  of  Joseph  Smith's,  and  Pratt,  in  his  "  Key  to 
Theology,"  thus  sums  it : 

1st.  "  The  Telestial,  or  least  Heaven,  typified  by  the  stars  of  the  firmament." 
2d.   "  The  Terrestial,  or  intermediate  Heaven,  typified  by  the  moon." 
3d.   "  The  Celestial,  or  third  Heaven,  of  which  the  sun  of  the  firmament  is  typi- 
cal." 

Mr.  Pratt  also  asserts  for  his  church  a  faith  in  dreams,  visions  and 
miracles,  together  with  the  leading  ideas  of  modern  Spiritualism.  Mr. 
Cannon  says  that  the  Mormons  believe  in  salvation  through  Christ,  but 
Mr.  Pratt's  denunciations  of  Christianity  and  Christendom  are  so  sweeping 
and  so  bitter  that  the  average  reader  will  regret  that  Mr.  Cannon  has  made 
the  assertion. 

The  conspicuous  feature  of  Mormon  belief,  however,  is  the  one  con- 
cerning marriage.  They  marry  for  this  world  and  the  next.  They  beget 
children  in  this  world  and  in  the  next.  Their  glory  in  heaven  is  declared 
to  be  in  proportion  to  their  celestial  families.  They  "  seal "  to  themselves 
wives  for  eternity,  who  may,  or  may  not  be  wives  for  time  ;  professedly  a 
platonic  marriage.  Not  to  marry  is  to  doom  one's  self  to  a  very  gloomy 
and  leaden-colored  hereafter.  Originally  plural  marriages  were  given  only 
to  the  truly  good  and  pure  of  the  church,  as  a  reward  for  exceeding  piety. 
This  rule  has  been  considerably  relaxed  of  late.  Men  are  expected  to 
marry  as  .much  as  they  conveniently  can.  To  obviate  mistakes,  divorces 
can  be  obtained  for  ten  dollars. 

Polygamy  was  not  one  of  the  original  doctrines  of  Mormonism.  It  was 
revealed  to  Smith  at  Nauvoo,  in  1843.  It  is  charged  that  Smith  and  others 
practiced  it  prior  to  that  time,  and  that  the  revelation  came  at  a  very  con- 
venient season  and  avoided  somewhat  of  scandal.  The  Book  of  Mor- 
mon condemns  it.  This  is  one  of  the  changes  wrought  by  special  revela- 
tion. The  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  in  an  edition  by  John  Taylor, 
published  in  1845,  two  years  after  the  revelations  to  Smith,  under  the 
head  of  marriage  contains  this  declaration  : 

"  Inasmuch  as  this  Church  of  Christ  has  been  reproached  with  the  crime  of  forni- 
cation and  polygamy,  we  declare  that  we  believe  that  one  man  should  have  but  one 
wife,  and  one  woman  but  one  husband,  except  in  case  of  death,  when  either  is  at 
liberty  to  marry  again." 

The  charge  that  these  people  indulged  in  degrading  practices,  which 
were  sanctioned  by  a  pretended  revelation  from  God,  and  then  deliberately 
published  and  maintained  to  the  outside  world  bare-faced  falsehoods,  in 
denial,  seems  well  sustained  from  their  own  records. 

t  This  book  (the  Doctrines  and  Covenants)  Mr.  Cannon  quotes  from,  in 
his  article  in  the  North  American  Review,  to  sustain  a  position  he  therein 
assumes.  Hear  him : 

"  The  book  which  contains  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  andwMcJi  is  esteemed  thd 
word  of  God,  and  binding  upon  them  by  its  members,  is  of  itself  a  complete  refutation 


12 

of  the  assertions  that  the  religion  of  the  people  prompts  them  to  commit  crime,  to 
cling  to  ignorance,  to  disregard  authority,  to  set  up  the  laws  of  the  church  against  the 
laws  of  the  State,  or  to  yield  to  priestly  authority." 

Mr.  Cannon  wishes  us  to  accept  the  declarations  of  this  book,  as  indi- 
cating the  faith  and  practice  of  his  people.  Do  we  understand  from  this 
that  he  wishes  us  to  disbelieve  that  polygamy  exists  in  Utah  ?  The  book 
declares  that  polygamy  is  not  practiced.  Why  does  not  Mr.  Cannon  quote 
from  it,  and  deny  that  polygamy  exists  in  Utah  ?  He  says  his  book  is  "  bind- 
ing "  upon  his  people,  and  quotes  it  to  prove  that  they  are  law-abiding. 
It  also  proves  that  Mormons  do  not  practice  polygamy.  He  says  the  book 
is  "esteemed  the  word  of  God."  Why  practice  then  what  the  "word  of 
God  "  denounces  ?  especially  since  the  law  of  the  land  brands  the  practice  a 
crime.  A  law-abiding  people  are  they  ?  WThy  not  obey  this  law  against 
polygamy  ? 

Again,  it  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Cannon  asserts  for  his  people  that 
they  do  not  "  set  up  the  laws  of  the  Church  against  the  laws  of  the  State." 

Why  then,  in  the  Endowment  House,  in  Salt  Lake  City,  does  his  church 
compel  every  novitiate  to  make  oath  that  they  will  obey  the  law  of  the 
Mormon  church  in  preference — in  preference,  those  are  the  words — to  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  ?  Why  does  his  church  also  compel  them  to 
swear  that  they  will  avenge  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith  upon  the  American 
people,  and  to  teach  this  idea  of  revenge  to  "their  children,  and  their 
children's  children  ?  "  These  oaths  are  daily  taken  in  the  Endowment 
House,  and  yet  the  "word  of  God,"  so  "binding"  upon  his  people,  as- 
serts the  duty  of  fealty  to  the  government !  Mr.  Cannon  had  better  call 
another  witness. 

Again  he  says : 

* '  In  Utah,  plural  marriages  were  contracted  for  many  years,  when  there  was  no 
law  prohibiting  them.  .  .  .  Shall  the  husbands  throw  off  the  wives  and  children 
obtained  under  such  circumstances,  and  leave  them  to  bear  all  the  consequences  which 
the  opinion  of  the  world  would  inflict  ?  The  men  of  Utah  are  not  such  scoundrels  and 
poltroons  as  so  commit  such  a  crime  against  heaven  and  humanity  as  this  !  " 

A  murderer  has  just  thrust  his  knife  to  the  hilt  into  the  heart  of  his 
victim.  Kneeling  on  his  prostrate  body,  he  lifts  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
declares  that  he  is  not  such  a  "  poltroon  "  and  "  scoundrel"  as  to  withdraw 
the  blade  and  let  out  all  the  precious  life-blood.  Not  he  ! 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  Cannon  has  just  attempted  to  prove  that  the 
men  of  Utah  are  a  law-abiding  people.  Here  he  asserts  positively  that 
they  will  not  obey  this  law  against  polygamy.  The  difficulty  that  Mr. 
Cannon  mourns  over,  in  the  genesis  of  his  article,  of  finding  some  one 
"  who  can  explain  the  true  character  of  their  system,"  is  a  real  one  doubt- 
less. He  is  troubled  concerning  the  future  of  the  wives  and  children  ob- 
tained prior  to  the  passage  of  the  law  prohibiting  polygamy.  What  will 
he  say  to  the  future  of  those  obtained  since  the  passage  of  the  law  ?  Tht 
law  was  passed  in  1862.  Brigham  Young  married  Amelia  six  months 


13 

thereafter.  Nineteen  years  since,  the  law  was  passed.  One  priest  testi- 
fied, in  the  case  of  "Miles  vs.  The  United  States,"  that  he  had  helped  to 
marry  as  many  as  forty  couples  in  one  day ;  and,  since  the  law,  more 
polygamous  marriages  in  the  last  five  years  than  in  any  other  five  years  of 
the  life  of  the  church.  Many  of  those  married  nineteen  years  ago  are  dead. 
Would  it  not  have  been  well  for  Mr.  Cannon  to  have  referred  to  the  many 
marriages  since  the  law,  as  well  as  to  the  few  before  the  law. 

"  How  shall  polygamy  be  broken  up  ?  "  asks  Mr.  Cannon.  "  This  is  a 
practical  question,"  he  says,  "  and  must  be  met  in  a  practical  way."  Is  he 
in  earnest?  If  so,  here  is  a  "practical"  suggestion.  If  a  "revelation" 
should  come  to  President  Taylor,  directing  the  church  to  treat  all  polyga- 
mous marriages  as  platonic,  henceforth,  and  that  all  polygamous  hus- 
bands should  continue  to  be  charged  with  the  support  and  care,  under 
suitable  regulations,  of  their  wives  and  children,  until  such  time  as  the 
wives  might  obtain  from  the  church  a  divorce,  and  marry  some  one  pos- 
sessed of  no  wife  ;  and  if  the  United  States  Government  should  legitimate 
all  polygamous  children  \>y  statute,  and  protect  the  honor  of  all  polyga- 
mous wives,  would  not  the  future  of  these  wives  and  children  be  provided 
for  ?  Mr.  Cannon  says  that  some  of  his  people  offer  up  prayer  for  the 
cure  of  diphtheria.  If  they  should  all,  of  one  accord,  offer  up  prayer  for 
such  a  "  revelation  "  as  has  been  suggested,  would  not  the  Almighty  be  as 
apt  to  grant  the  request  as  he  would  to  cure  a  case  of  diphtheria  ?  Such  a 
revelation  would  be  hailed  with  tears  of  joy  by  more  than  one  polygamous 
wife  in  Utah.  Said  one  of  these  to  an  eminent  lady  physician  of  Washing- 
ton, who  was  visiting  Salt  Lake  City  recently :  "  We  believe  polygamy 
came  to  us  by  Divine  command.  When  the  Lord  has  done  with  it,  we 
will  have  done."  And  then,  with  a  prophetic  look  in  her  eye,  she  added  : 
"  I  am  watching  my  way  out.  God  speed  the  day." 

In  common  with  other  advocates  of  polygamy,  and  apologists  for  their 
system,  Mr.  Cannon  asserts  that  there  is  little  or  no  prostitution  in  Utah, 
and  that  for  many  years  the  crime  of  adultery  was  unknown  among  Mor- 
mons. This  fact  is  due,  they  say,  to  polygamy,  and  these  crimes,  in 
Christian  communities,  are  charged  as  natural  results  of  monogamy.  This 
claim  of  exceeding  purity  is  not  well  founded.  During  the  days  of  "  the 
Reformation,"  in  1856  and  1857,  it  is  asserted,  on  good  authority,  that 
Brigham  Young  took  occasion  to  call  upon  all  those  who  had  been  guilty 
of  certain  base  crimes  to  rise  and  stand  upon  their  feet,  and  to  receive 
absolution,  if  a  pledge  of  purity  for  the  future  was  given.  So  many  rose 
that  day,  that  to  have  executed  them  all  under  the  law  would  have  ruined 
the  church. 

It  is  a  grave  question  just  how  much  of  credit  should  be  given  to  a 
people,  who,  under  their  ecclesiastical  law,  have  such  latitude  for  the  baser 
passions,  when  marriage  and  divorce,  under  color  of  religious  sanction,  are 
made  the  ready  ministers  of  lust.  If,  when  in  our  cities  the  debauchee 
entered  the  public  brothel,  a  minister  stood  ready  to  marry  him,  and  as 


14 

lie  passed  out  a  judge  conferred  the  wislied-for  decree  of  divorce,  and 
this  was  permitted  by  the  law,  how  much  inducement  would  there  be  of- 
fered to  break  the  law,  and  thereby  commit  crime  ? 

Says  Mr.  Cannon  :  "  There  can  be  no  greater  mistake  than  to  suppose 
that  sensuality  is  the  foundation  of  this  system  of  marriage."  Doubtless 
there  are  many  honest  polygamists  in  Utah ;  religious  fanaticism  has 
blinded  many  well-meaning  persons  in  the  world.  But  is  it  not  possible 
to  preserve  the  outward  forms  of  polygamous  Mormon  law,  and  yet  compel 
it  to  minister  to  passion  solely,  and  without  a  spark  of  religious  fire  ?  Has 
it  not  been  thus  used  ?  Religion  is  of  the  heart ;  marriage  and  divorce 
are  mere  forms  ;  and  if  so  permitted  under  law,  would  cloak  any  degree  of 
immorality  and  lust.  They  have  been  so  used.  To  deny  it  is  to  falsify 
the  history  of  a  score  of  court  records. 

Again,  says  the  Mormon  apologist,  "We  are  no  worse  than  you. 
Many  of  your  citizens  practice  what  polygamy  permits  with  us,  and 
sanctions."  Can  effrontery  go  farther  than  this?  Because  crimes  are 
committed,  must  a  church  put  in  its  creed  a  cloak  for  crime  ?  In  polyga- 
mous Mormouism,  religion  and  ecclesiastical  law  are  dragged  down  into 
the  mud  and  mire  of  sensuality,  and  made  to  gild  with  respectability  what 
the  civilized  world  spurns  and  execrates.  The  world  will  be  prone  to  be- 
lieve that  the  intelligent  advocate  of  polygamy  is  actuated  by  some  other 
motive  than  a  sincere  desire  for  his  soul's  salvation. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  not  look  with 
complacency  upon  the  growth  of  a  social  system  that  will  permit  their 
critics  to  classify  them  with  Mohammedans,  Hindoos,  Fuegians,  Caribs  and 
Hottentots.  When  advocates  and  defenders  of  a  social  system  are  driven 
to  the  necessity  of  declaring  that  there  are  worse  pictures  than  theirs  in 
the  rogues'  galleries,  worse  citizens  than  theirs  arraigned  at  the  bars  of 
police  courts  ;  worse  systems  than  theirs  extant  in  barbarous  tribes  and 
semi-civilized  nations,  or  that  worse  systems  existed  two  thousand  years 
ago,  they  should  be  commended  to  that  verse  in  Proverbs  :  "A  whip  for 
the  horse,  a  bridle  for  the  ass,  and  a  rod  for  the  fool's  back."  They  will 
have  reached  the  end  of  argument  long  before. 

Quotations  from  the  Biblical  record,  showing  the  lewdness  of  some  of 
the  best  men  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  are  also  used  to  give  warrant  for 
a  continuance  of  base  practices  in  the  nineteenth  century  and  in  the 
United  States. 

"  And  thus  I  clothe  my  naked  villainy 
With  old  odd  ends  stol'n  forth  of  Holy  Writ, 
And  seem  a  saint,  when  most  I  play  the  devil." 

The  disguise  is  incomplete. 

"In  the  public  mind,'' says  Mr.  Cannon,  "the  system  of  plural  mar- 
riages in  Utah  is  often  confounded  with  bigamy."  Quite  true,  quite  nat- 
ural, and  not  at  all  surprising,  since  the  law  of  the  United  States  makes  it 


15 

so.  Enacted  in  1862,  thus  reads  the  statute  :  "  Every  person,  having  a 
husband  or  wife  living,  who  marries  another,  whether  married  or  single, 
in  a  Territory  or  other  place  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclusive 
jurisdiction,  is  guilty  of  bigamy."  "  But  that  crime,  as  usually  committed, 
inflicts  grave  wrong  upon  innocent  parties,"  says  Mr.  Cannon.  Truth 
again  ;  and  it  is  because  that  crime,  "  as  usually  committed  "  by  the  Mor- 
mon church,  inflicts  grave  wrong  upon  innocent  parties,  that  it  is  to  be 
hoped  it  may  be  speedily  suppressed. 

"A  man  marries  a  woman,"  continues  Mr.  Cannon,  "he  afterward  de- 
serts her,  and  marries  another.  From  the  second  he  conceals  the  fact  that 
he  already  has  a  wife  ;  both  are  wronged  and  deceived,  and  society  is  out- 
raged." More  truth  !  Precisely  the  effect  of  this  crime.  Precisely  what 
the  Mormon  church  has  practiced — sent  elders  abroad  by  the  score  to 
proselyte  :  concealed  carefully  the  fact  that  polygamy  wras  practiced  in  the 
church  at  Utah  ;  deceived  ignorant  but  innocent  people  ;  converted  them 
to  Mormonism  ;  forwarded  them  to  Salt  Lake  ;  and  there,  when  safely  in 
the  priestly  toils,  for  the  first  time,  told  them  the  whole  truth.  "But  this 
is  not  the  patriarchal  marriage  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,"  concludes  Mr. 
Cannon.  Ah,  indeed  !  But  it  is  very  like  it,  in  many,  many  cases ;  and 
we  have  it  upon  the  authority  of  an  ex-officer  of  the  Mormon  church,  that 
some  years  since,  a  Mormon  elder  held  a  public  discussion  at  Boulogne,  in 
which  he  attempted  to  prove  that  polygamy  was  not  practiced  in  Utah, 
when  at  the  time  he  was  married  to  four  wives,  was  courting  still  another 
lady,  from  whom  he  carefully  concealed  the  fact  that  he  had  any  wife  at  all ! 
Polygamous  Mormons  do  not  have  to  desert  the  first  wife  in  order  to  marry 
another.  If  the  first  feels  that  she  is  too  badly  outraged  to  stay,  and 
makes  too  much  trouble,  a  convenient  divorce  relieves  the  situation. 

Says  an  earnest  Mormon  advocate,  on  the  law  of  heredity,  and  in  de- 
fense of  polygamy : 

u  Our  physical  organization,  health,  vigor,  strength  of  body  in  faculties,  inclina- 
tions, etc.,  are  influenced  very  much  by  parentage.  Hereditary  disease,  idiocy,  weak- 
ness of  mind  or  of  constitution,  deformity,  tendency  to  violent  and  ungovernable  pas- 
sions, vicious  appetites  and  desires,  are  engendered  by  parents,  and  are  bequeathed 
as  a  heritage  from  generation  to  generation." 

True,  every  word  of  it.  And  the  testimony  of  visitors  to  Salt  Lake 
City,  native  and  foreign,  with  practical  unanimity  goes  to  prove  that  these 
transmitted  evils  exist  to  a  pre-eminent  degree  in  Mormon  progeny.  Says 
one  of  these  who  visited  Salt  Lake  in  1862,  and  was  for  awhile  the  guest 
of  Brigham  Young  :  "  The  children  of  the  saints  have  a  bad  name  for  pre- 
cocious depravity."  Says  another,  who  was  there  two  years  since  :  "I had 
an  opportunity  to  see  several  thousand  children  pass  in  review  or  proces- 
sion before  me.  They  certainly  were  a  very  inferior  lot."  Says  another  : 
"It  would  be  impossible  to  collect,  even  from  our  great  cities,  as  many 
children  so  unprepossessing."  The  mortality  among  children  at  Salt  Lake 


1G 

City  is  also  remarkable,  considering-  the  general  salubrity  of  tlie  climate. 
New  Orleans  is  the  only  city  in  the  United  States  that  reports  so  great  a 
death-rate. 

Mother  and  daughter  are  often  wives  of  the  same  man.  The  jealousies 
between  the  wives  make  inevitable  discords  in  the  polygamous  family. 
The  children  breathe  a  vitiated  air  ;  there  is  no  privacy,  no  oneness  of 
sentiment,  no  home.  If  rich,  the  wives  live  separately  from  each  other.  If 
poor,  they  are  herded  together  in  one  or  two  rooms.  At  the  best,  in  the 
rearing  of  children,  polygamy  and  monogamy  present  about  the  same  dif- 
ferences that  exist  between  an  "  orphan  asylum  "  and  the  loving,  pure 
circle  of  a  Christian  home. 

A  review  of  polygamous  Mormonism,  however  brief,  would  not  be  satis- 
factory, without  an  attempt  at  least  to  answer  some  questions  which  sug- 
gest themselves  as  of  common  interest  to  the  statesman,  the  divine,  and 
the  philanthropist. 

What  is  the  secret  of  Mormon  success  ?  Why  so  strong  ?  How  but- 
tressed and  defended  ?  How  can  so  erroneous  a  system  ever  become  dan- 
gerous ?  All  these  questions  can  be  answered  in  a  single  word — organiza- 
tion. The  hands  of  the  church  are  upon  everything  in  Utah.  The  eyes  of 
the  church  are  upon  every  person.  The  ears  of  the  church  hear  eveiy 
word  spoken,  and  its  power  is  everywhere  felt.  Every  Mormon  is  taught 
that  he  is  of  a  brotherhood,  chosen  of  God  ;  that  every  one  will  be  a  prince 
and  a  priest  of  the  Most  High,  in  the  world  to  come.  The  officers  of  his 
cliurch  are  divinely  commissioned,  hold  the  keys  of  the  beatific  hereafter, 
reserved  for  the  faithful  saints,  and  are  the  infallible  guides  of  the  people 
in  temporal  matters.  Church  and  State  are  joined  in  indissoluble  bonds  ; 
the  church  always  the  controlling  head  and  fountain  of  authority.  When, 
under  law,  there  seems  to  be  an  impassable  gulf  fixed  between  these  two, 
and  the  forms  of  an  election  and  of  law-making  are  gone  through  with,  the 
church  inspires  every  Mormon  official,  dictates  every  local  law,  and  fore- 
casts the  result  of  every  election.  "  Theology,"  wrote  P.  P.  Platt,  "  is  the 
science  by  which  worlds  are  organized,  sustained,  and  directed,  and  the 
elements  controlled ;  all  other  sciences  being  but  branches  of  this,  the 
root."  This  declaration,  in  all  possible  fullness  of  construction,  is  the  fun- 
damental law  of  the  Mormon  church. 

In  Utah  there  is  an  official,  of  some  sort,  to  about  every  five  persons. 
For  a  description  of  their  organism  there  can  be  no  clearer  statement  than 
that  found  in  the  March  number  of  the  North  American  Review,  in  an  arti- 
cle from  the  pen  of  C.  C.  Goodwin,  who  presents  to  us  the  whole  scheme, 
in  the  exact  language  of  a  Mormon  Bishop,  Henry  Lunt,  of  Cedar  City, 
Utah: 

"  First,  there  is  a  President,  and  he  has  two  Counselors.  Second,  there  are  twelve 
Apostles.  The  President  is  one  of  them,  and  there  are  eleven  others.  Each  of  them 
receives  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum.  The  President  wields  an  authority  equal  to 


17 

that  of  the  other  eleven.  Third,  there  are  seven  Presidents  designated  as  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  Seventies.  Fourth,  come  the  Seventies,  with  seven  Presidents  over  each, 
and  a  President  over  each  of  the  Sevens.  Fifth,  come  the  Seventies,  each  body  of 
which  consists  of  seventy  Elders.  There  are  eighty  of  these  Seventies  in  Utah,  and 
they  are  compelled  to  report  at  least  annually.  These  constitute  the  general  authori- 
ties of  the  church.  Sixth,  is  the  Head  Patriarch  of  the  church.  This  dignity  is  he- 
reditary when  the  candidate  is  worthy.  The  Head  Patriarch  resides  at  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  blesses  the  people  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  The  present  incumbent  of  that 
sacred  position  is  John  Smith,  the  nephew  of  Prophet  Joseph  Smith.  Seventh,  there 
is  a  Presiding  Bishop,  who  attends  to  the  collection  of  tithes.  Eighth,  Zion  is  divided 
into  twenty-three  Stakes,  each  of  which  has  a  President.  Each  Stake  is  subdivided 
into  wards,  and  each  ward  into  districts.  Each  district  has  a  quorum  of  Teachers, 
whose  business  it  is  to  visit  each  family  periodically,  and  look  after  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  its  members.  Each  district  has  a  meeting-house,  Sunday-school,  day-school, 
Young  Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Society,  primary  association  for  small  children 
which  meets  on  Saturdays,  and  usually  a  dramatic  society.  Our  people  at  Cedar  City 
have  a  brass  band,  a  co-operative  store,  a  co-operative  tannery,  and  a  co-operative 
grist-mill  which  cost  ten  thousand  dollars.  Ninth,  come  the  priests  and  deacons.  In 
the  world  the  priests  preach  and  baptize,  but  do  not  lay  on  hands.  The  wisdom  of 
man  could  never  have  devised  a  church  organization  like  that.  Out  of  a  total  popula- 
tion of  150,000,  there  are  30,000  children  in  Utah  under  eight  years  of  age.  We  have 
a  Sunday-school  organization  known  as  the  Deseret  Sunday-school  Union,  of  which 
George  Q.  Cannon  is  Superintendent ;  he  is  our  Delegate  to  Congress.  Then  we  have 
a  perpetual  immigration  fund,  in  charge  of  President  Albert  Carrington.  With  this 
we  assist  in  gathering  our  converts  to  these  valleys.  All  nations  are  here  represented." 

Of  the  designs  of  the  church,  to  the  same  correspondent  Bishop  Lunt 
said  : 

"  Like  a  grain  of  mustard-seed  was  the  truth  planted  in  Zion,  and  it  is  destined  to 
spread  through  all  the  world.  Our  church  has  been  organized  only  fifty  years,  and 
yet  behold  its  wealth  and  power.  This  is  our  year  of  jubilee.  We  look  forward  with 
perfect  confidence  to  the  day  when  we  will  hold  the  reins  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment. That  is  our  present  temporal  aim ;  after  that  we  expect  to  control  the  conti- 
nent." 

When  told  by  the  correspondent  that  such  a  scheme  seems  somewhat 
visionary,  considering  the  fact  that  Utah  cannot  secure  recognition  as  a 
State,  the  bishop's,  reply  was  : 

"  Do  not  be  deceived  ;  we  are  looking  after  that.  We  do  not  care  for  these  Terri- 
torial officials  sent  out  to  govern  us.  They  are  nobodies  here.  We  do  not  recognize 
them,  neither  do  we  fear  any  practical  interference  by  Congress.  We  intend  to  have 
Utah  recognized  as  a  State.  To-day  we  hold  the  balance  of  political  power  in  Idaho, 
we  rule  Utah  absolutely,  and  in  a  very  short  time  we  will  hold  the  balance  of  power 
in  Arizona  and  Wyoming.  A  few  months  ago,  President  Snow  of  St.  George,  set  out 
with  a  band  of  priests  for  an  extensive  tour  through  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Wyoming, 
Montana,  Idaho,  and  Arizona,  to  proselyte.  We  also  expect  to  send  missionaries  to 
some  parts  of  Nevada,  and  we  design  to  plant  colonies  in  Washington  Territory. 

"  In  the  past  six  months  we  have  sent  more  than  3,000  of  our  people  down  through 
the  Sevier  valley  to  settle  in  Arizona,  and  the  movement  still  progresses.  All  this  will 
build  up  for  us  a  political  power  which  will,  in  time,  compel  the  homage  of  the  dema- 
2 


18 

gogues  of  the  country.  Our  vote  is  solid,  and  will  remain  so.  It  will  be  thrown 
where  the  most  good  will  be  accomplished  for  the  church.  Then,  in  some  great  politi- 
cal crisis,  the  two  present  political  parties  will  bid  for  our  support.  Utah  will  then  be 
admitted  as  a  polygamous  State,  and  the  other  Territories  we  have  peacefully  subju- 
gated will  be  admitted  also.  We  will  then  hold  the  balance  of  power,  and  will  dictate 
to  the  country.  In  time,  our  principles,  which  are  of  sacred  origin,  will  spread 
throughout  the  United  States.  We  possess  the  ability  to  turn  the  political  scale  in 
any  particular  community  we  desire.  Our  people  are  obedient.  When  they  are  called 
by  the  church,  they  promptly  obey.  They  sell  their  houses,  lands,  and  stock,  and  re- 
move to  any  part  of  the  country  the  church  may  direct  them  to.  You  can  imagine  the 
results  which  wisdom  may  bring  about,  with  the  assistance  of  a  church  organization 
like  ours.  It  is  the  completest  the  world  has  ever  seen.  We  have  another  advantage. 
We  are  now  and  shall  always  be  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage.  The  women  of  Utah 
vote,  and  they  never  desert  the  colors  of  the  church  in  a  political  contest.  They  vote 
for  the  tried  friends  of  the  church,  and  what  they  do  here  they  will  do  everywhere  our 
principles  and  our  institutions  spread." 

As  readily  as  water  seeks  its  level,  so  readily  do  tlie  orders  of  the  infal- 
lible priesthood,  by  tlie  agency  of  the  subtle  mechanism  here  developed, 
reach  the  most  obscure  member  of  the  church,  in  the  most  distant  Mor- 
mon settlement,  and  the  whole  mass  is  electrified  with  the  impulses  of  the 
master-mind,  and  molded  into  the  desired  form. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Gentile  element  in  the  population  of 
Utah  is  inconsiderable.  The  legislative  branch  of  the  Territorial  govern- 
ment is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  church,  subject  only  to  the  veto  power 
of  the  Governor,  and  the  annulling  power  of  Congress.  These  two  checks 
to  legislative  enactments  are  powerful  enough,  but  are  not  often  applied. 
The  local  legislation  of  the  Territory  was  largely  devised  in  the  reign  of 
Brigham  Young,  who,  as  Governor,  of  course  did  not  use  the  veto  power 
against  his  own  will.  To  avoid  anti-church  influences  and  interferences 
on  the  part  of  Congress,  the  legislative  power  has  been  largely  delegated 
to  corporations,  so  extensive  in  jurisdiction  that  all  the  valuable  lands,  and 
the  irrigating  streams,  are  under  their  control.  They  legislate  very  little 
in  the  Territorial  legislature,  but  very  much  in  their  municipal  corpora- 
tions. They  have  put  the  law  of  their  municipalities  against  the  law  of 
the  organic  act.  They  have  devised  a  system  of  escheats,  by  which  the 
estates  of  deceased  persons  have  been  confiscated  to  the  church,  without 
power  on  the  part  of  the  heirs  to  obtain  their  own,  or  punish  the  robbers. 
Their  justices'  courts  have  a  wide  jurisdiction — are  final  in  many  impor- 
tant cases,  and  when  appeals  properly  lie  to  a  higher  court  they  are  often 
arbitrarily  denied.  The  power  of  the  Federal  courts  has  been  invaded, 
and  the  authority  of  the  Federal  officers  alternately  denied  and  usurped. 
In  short,  their  local  legislation  has  been  most  iniquitous.  By  its  use, 
coupled  with  the  power  of  a  priestly  despotism,  working  upon  ignorant 
and  fanatical  masses,  the  Mormon  hierarchy  has  plundered  its  poor  dupes, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  most  mercilessly,  filling  the  coffers  of  the  church 
to  which  they  have  the  keys,  by  extortions  and  impositions  the  most 
shameless. 


19 

A  Federal  officer  of  Utah,  writing  to  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States,  under  date  of  July  11,  1879,  says  : 

"The  suit  that  has  been  begun  by  Brighara  Young's  heirs,  has  revealed  the  fact 
(or  I  should  say  has  made  it  more  prominent,  for  it  was  understood  before),  that  the 
Mormon  church  owns  millions  of  dollars  in  property,  which  is  held  by  its  trustee  and 
other  good  Mormons.  By  law  they  are  entitled  to  only  $50,000  (see  Revised  Statutes, 
Sec.  1890).  Since  the  passage  of  this  act,  they  have  accumulated  more  than  one  mil- 
lion of  dollars." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  "  infallible  priesthood  "  has  substantial,  as 
well  as  spiritual,  reasons  for  tenacity  of  faith. 

Whatever  else  there  may  be  in  Utah,  there  are  few  drones.  Everybody 
is  expected  to  work.  Mormon  wives  lead  no  lives  of  idleness.  They  must 
very  nearly  support  themselves.  Some  do  more.  Self-support  will  not 
answer  the  demands  of  the  priesthood.  Tithes  must  be  brought  into  the 
Lord's  storehouse. 

Mr.  Cannon  remarks  that  "  taxation  is  lighter  than  in  any  of  the  other 
Territories,  and  than  many  of  the  States."  Territorial  taxation  proper  is 
always  light ;  but  when  to  that  tax-list  is  added  the  municipal  tax,  the 
water-rates,  and  the  ten  per  cent,  of  church  tithes,  we  find  the  Mormons 
are  carrying  a  burden  like  that  imposed  upon  Israel  by  the  Egyptian  task- 
master. While  the  church  taxes  are  not  collected  by  legal  process,  the 
collection  is  none  the  less  sure.  The  business  of  the  Mormons  is  largely 
conducted  through  a  mammoth  co-operative  association,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  church,  which  has  its  hand  upon  every  interest  of  its  people, 
religious,  political,  business,  and  social. 

It  requires  no  extended  examination  of  the  Mormon  system  to  discern 
that  everything  the  ingenuity  of  man  could  invent  has  been  called  in  to  aid 
in  its  organization,  and  make  impregnable  its  defenses.  There  is  not  a 
more  rigidly  administered  despotism  on  earth,  either  civil  or  religious, 
and  never  has  been.  Broad-based,  its  foundation  stones  in  every  house- 
hold, it  has  stood  thus  far  "  a  tower  of  strength,  foursquare  to  all  the 
winds  that  blew."  Every  incentive  of  human  action  has  been  invoked, 
and  embraced  in  the  scheme.  No  matter  how  wild,  visionary,  false  or 
atrocious  might  be  the  religious  faith  of  a  man,  Mormonism  has  had  some- 
thing with  which  to  satisfy  him.  Let  some  poor  devotee  reach  out  his 
hand  for  anything,  high  or  low,  and  a  Mormon  priest  offers  to  fill  it. 
Janus-faced,  if  he  aspires,  the  priesthood  with  mock  humility  points 
solemnly  upward.  If  he  grovels,  the  priesthood  with  lecherous  leers  bows 
with  him  in  the  mire  of  sensuality,  Whatever  his  mood,  lofty  sentiment, 
base  desire,  or  ignoble  passion,  a  promise  of  satisfaction  isatonce  given 
—if  he  will  be  true  to  the  church.  P  -  n/roft  UUrtTy 

Polygamous  Mormonism,  treasonable  at  heart  to  the  Republic,  an 
enemy  to  pure  religion,  is  dangerous  just  in  proportion  as  it  has  power  to 
enforce  its  desires  ;  for  its  civil  and  religious  creed  is  diametrically  opposed 
to  the  institutions  of  any  free  Republican  system.  In  disproving  the 


20 

charge  of  disloyalty  made  against  the  Mormon  church,  Mr.  Cannon,  in  his 
recent  article,  says :  "  When  they  fled  to  the  Kocky  Mountains,  they  did 
not  forget  that  they  were  American  citizens.  They  hoisted  the  stars  and 
stripes,  and  announced  their  determination  to  live  under  the  Constitution 
of  their  fathers." 

True — they  did  hoist  the  "  stars  and  stripes  " — when  ?  In  1847,  when 
the  territory  they  occupied  was  Mexican  soil,  not  the  property  of  the 
United  States.  But  ten  years  later,  when  the  "United  States  did  own  the 
territory,  Brigham  Young  declared  the  independence  of  the  State  of  Dese- 
ret,  and  began  war  upon  his  country.  "  Announced  their  determination 
to  live  under  the  Constitution  of  their  fathers,"  yet  compel  their  people  to 
swear  that  they  will  support  the  constitution  of  the  Mormon  church  in 
preference.  Says  a  better  authority  than  Mr.  Cannon :  "No  man  can 
serve  two  masters,  for  either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or 
else  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other."  Which  does  the  Mor- 
mon hate  or  despise,  Mormon  Theocracy,  or  free  Republicanism  ? 

In  defense  of  polygamy,  the  Mormon  hierarchy  has  loved  to  quote  and 
dwell  long  upon  the  provisions  of  the  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
which  reads  as  follows  : 

' '  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof,  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press,  etc." 

As  construed  by  the  priesthood,  there  were  few  crimes  that  could  not 
be  committed  against  a  fellow-citizen,  or  the  State,  with  impunity,  under 
the  guise  of  religious  belief. 

Fortunately  in  the  matter  under  consideration,  and  in  its  relation  to 
this  amendent,  we  are  not  left  to  baffling  and  conflicting  opinions.  The 
Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  Reynolds  -us.  the  United  States  (98  U.  S., 
145),  has  given  a  construction  to  the  amendment  in  question.  Chief  Jus- 
tice Waite,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  said  : 

"  Congress  was  deprived  of  all  legislative  power  over  mere  opinion,  but  was  left 
free  to  reach  actions  which  were  in  violation  of  social  duties,  or  subversive  of  good 
order." 

In  this  case  (a  prosecution  for  bigamy),  the  attorney  in  the  Court  below 
had  asked  the  Court  to  instruct  the  jury,  that  if  they  found  from  the  evi- 
dence that  the  man  indicted  for  bigamy  (being  a  Mormon  polygamist) 
"  was  married  as  charged  " — married  "  in  pursuance  of,  and  in  conformity 
with  what  he  believed  at  the  time  to  be,  a  religious  duty,  the  verdict  must 
be  not  guilty."  The  request  was  refused,  and  the  Supreme  Court  sus- 
tained the  Court  below  on  the  point  raised. 

In  reference  to  the  statute  of  the  United  States,  which  has  been  already 
quoted,  the  Chief  Justice  said  : 

"  It  is  constitutional  and  valid  as  prescribing  a  rule  of  action  for  all  those  residing 
in  the  Territories  and  in  places  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclusive  control. 


21 

This  being  so,  the  only  question  which  remains  is,  whether  those  who  make  polygamy 
a  part  of  their  religion  are  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  statute.  If  they  are, 
then  those  who  do  not  make  polygamy  a  part  of  their  religious  belief  may  be  found 
guilty  and  punished,  while  those  who  do  must  be  acquitted  and  go  free.  This  would 
be  introducing  a  new  element  into  criminal  law.  Laws  are  made  for  the  government 
of  actions,  and,  while  they  cannot  interfere  with  mere  religious  belief  and  opinions, 
they  may  with  practices.  Suppose  one  believed  that  human  sacrifices  were  a  neces- 
sary part  of  religious  worship,  would  it  be  seriously  contended  that  the  civil  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lived  could  not  interfere  to  prevent  a  sacrifice  ?  Or  if  a  wife  re- 
ligiously believed  it  was  her  duty  to  burn  herself  upon  the  funeral  pile  of  her  dead 
husband,  would  it  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  civil  government  to  prevent  her  carry- 
ing her  belief  into  practice  ?  " 

And  the  further  points  were  made,  that  by  the  laws  of  every  State, 
plural  marriages  are  forbidden  ;  that  polygamy  has  always  been  branded 
by  civilized  nations  as  crime.  The  English  Statutes  (1  Jas.,  1  chap.,  11) 
made  it  punishable  in  the  civil  courts,  and  attached  the  death  penalty.  A 
similar  statute  was  enacted  by  the  colonies.  Kent,  the  great  commentator, 
treats  the  second  marriage  as  void.  Prof.  Lieber  says  :  "  Polygamy  fet- 
ters the  people  in  stationary  bondage."  The  law  is  clear  and  the  contro- 
verted questions  of  constitutionality  are  settled.  Why  is  not  the  law  en- 
forced? Why  is  such  a  fountain  of  un cleanness  not  stopped  ? 

In  the  case  just  referred  to,  few  of  the  difficulties  of  enforcing  the  law 
came  under  consideration.  In  a  later  case,  that  of  Miles  vs.  the  United 
States,  opinion  by  Justice  Woods,  delivered  in  the  October  term,  1880,  a 
very  serious  difficulty  presented  itself.  Section  1604  of  the  laws  of  Utah 
provides  that 

"  A  husband  shall  not  be  a  witness  for  or  against  his  wife,  nor  a  wife  a  witness  for 
or  against  her  husband." 

In  this  case  the  evidence  of  one  of  the  later  wives  of  Miles  was  offered 
to  prove  a  marriage  with  a  former  one,  that  the  crime  of  bigamy  might 
thus  be  established  against  Miles.  The  marriage  with  the  first  wife  was 
denied  ;  the  marriage  with  the  second,  or  the  one  whose  testimony  was  de- 
sired, was  admitted ;  and  thereupon  the  defendant,  under  the  statute  just 
quoted,  objected  to  the  introduction  of  this  last  one  as  a  witness.  The 
Court  below  overruled  the  objection,  and  the  case  came  up  in  error  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  In  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  Justice  Woods 
says: 

"•  Until  the  fact  of  the  marriage  of  Emily  Spencer  (first  wife)  with  the  plaintiff  in 
error  was  established,  Caroline  Owens  (second  wife)  was  prima  facie  his  wife,  and  she 
could  not  be  used  as  a  witness  against  him. 

"  The  ground  upon  which  a  second  wife  is  admitted  as  a  witness  against  her  hus- 
band, in  a  prosecution  for  bigamy,  is  that  she  is  shown  not  to  be  a  real  wife  by  proof 
of  the  fact  that  the  accused  had  previously  married  another  wife,  who  was  still  living 
and  still  his  lawful  wife.  It  is  only  in  cases  where  the  first  marriage  is  not  contro- 
verted, or  has  been  duly  established  by  other  evidence,  that  the  second  wife  is  al- 
lowed to  testify,  and  she  can  then  be  a  witness  to  the  second  marriage,  and  not  to  the 
firBt. 


"The  testimony  of  the  second  wife  to  prove  the  only  controverted  issue  in  the  case, 
namely,  the  first  marriage,  cannot  be  given  to  the  jury  on  the  pretext  that  its  purpose 
is  to  establish  her  competency.  As  her  competency  depends  on  pi  oof  of  the  first  mar- 
riage, and  that  is  the  issue  upon  which  the  case  turns,  that  issue  must  be  established 
by  other  witnesses  before  the  second  wife  is  competent  for  any  purpose.  Even  then 
she  is  not  competent  to  prove  the  first  marriage,  for  she  cannot  be  admitted  to  prove 
a  fact  to  the  jury  which  must  be  established  before  she  can  testify  at  all. 

"Witnesses  who  are  prima  facie  competent,  but  whose  competency  is  disputed,  are 
allowed  to  give  evidence  on  their  voir  dire  to  the  court  upon  some  collateral  issue,  on 
which  their  competency  depends,  but  the  testimony  of  a  witness  who  is  prima  facie 
incompetent  cannot  be  given  to  the  jury  upon  the  very  issue  in  the  case,  in  order  to 
establish  his  competency,  and  at  the  same  time  prove  the  issue.  The  authorities 
sustain  these  views." 

He  further  says  : 

"  It  is  made  clear  by  the  record  that  polygamous  marriages  are  so  celebrated  in 
Utah  as  to  make  the  proof  of  polygamy  very  difficult.  They  are  conducted  in  secret, 
and  the  persons  by  whom  they  are  solemnized  are  under  such  obligations  of  secrecy, 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  extract  the  facts  from  them  when  placed  upon  the  wit- 
ness stand.  If  both  wives  are  excluded  from  testifying  to  the  first  marriage,  as  we 
think  they  should  be  under  the  existing  rules  of  evidence,  testimony  sufficient  to  con- 
vict in  a  prosecution  for  polygamy  in  the  Territory  of  Utah  is  hardly  attainable.  But 
this  is  not  a  consideration  by  which  we  can  be  influenced.  We  must  administer  the 
law  as  we  find  it.  The  remedy  is  with  Congress,  by  enacting  such  a  change  in  the 
law  of  evidence  in  the  Territory  of  Utah  as  to  make  both  wives  witnesses  on  indict- 
ments for  bigamy." 

Under  the  act  of  1850,  organizing  the  Territory  of  Utah,  the  Federal 
Government  has  exclusive  control  of  affairs.  Laws  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature must  be  approved  by  the  Governor,  and  he  is  appointed  by  the 
President ;  besides,  they  may  be  set  aside,  or  annulled  by  Congress.  The 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory  are  also  appointed  by  the 
President.  As  a  Territory  it  is  under  control.  As  a  State  it  would  be- 
come independent,  of  course,  to  a  great  extent,  subject  only  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  and  its  own  Constitution.  As  a  Territory, 
with  a  little  legislation  on  the  part  of  Congress,  polygamy  can  be  sup- 
pressed within  its  borders.  As  a  State,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  would 
ever  be  exterminated. 

Polygamy  is  on  the  increase  in  Utah.  Governor  Neill,  of  Idaho,  also 
makes  it  the  subject  of  a  special  message,  and  indicates  the  cause  of  its 
rapid  development,  in  language  as  truthful  and  outspoken  as  it  is  startling 
to  those  who  have  felt  that  polygamous  Morrnonism  was  so  "remote  "  and 
so  "  weak  "  that  it  needed  no  attention  from  the  country.  He  says  : 

"Polygamy  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Mormon  church,  and  the  practice  is  urged  and 
made  obligatory  upon  the  members  of  the  church,  for  the  purpose  of  binding  them 
more  firmly  to  the  organization.  The  Mormon  leaders  have  shrewdly  calculated,  that 
by  making  the  society  a  large  community  of  interest  in  crime,  its  members  can  be 
the  more  easily  persuaded  and  influenced  to  aid  in  carrying  into  execution  the 
political  schemes  of  the  priesthood.  ....  From  the  penalties  of  the  law,  the 


23 

polygamist  naturally  goes  for  protection  and  defense  to  the  church Again 

the   practice  is   calculated   to   draw  to  the   Mormon  church   the  most  vicious  and 
sensual  classes  of  society." 

Polygamous  Mormonism  was  never  stronger  than  now.  There  is  no 
growing  evil  that  more  loudly  demands  the  careful  and  conscientious  at- 
tention of  statesmen. 

The  elements  of  evil  and  of  danger  can  be  naturally  marshalled  in  two 
groups,  one  having  relation  most  directly  to  the  State,  the  other  affecting 
more  specifically  morality  and  Christian  civilization.  In  guarding  against 
the  first,  we  can  legitimately  appeal  to  Congress  and  the  National  Execu- 
tive. For  averting  the  second,  we  must  rely  upon  the  same  great  moral 
forces  that  have  Christianized  the  world.  In  both  directions  speedy  and 
decisive  action  should  be  had.  Convention  resolutions,  however  good,  will 
not  remove  the  thorn  from  the  side  of  wounded  society. 

As  early  as  1853,  this  remarkable  organization  had  in  Great  Britain 
alone  30,000  communicants,  8  high  priests,  40  quorums  of  seventies,  2,500 
elders,  1,800  priests,  1,400  teachers,  and  800  deacons,  all  engaged  in  the 
work  of  proselyting  for  the  church,  and  preparing  them  for  emigration  to 
the  Zion  in  Utah.  Several  hundreds  of  their  priests  are  now  abroad  prose- 
lyting. Their  books  are  in  all  languages,  their  missionaries  are  in  nearly 
all  lands  where  they  are  not  prohibited  by  law  from  preaching.  "  Canst 
thou  draw  out  Leviathan  with  a  hook  ?  "  Mormon  "  stakes  "  have  been  set 
with  pile-drivers,  driven  with  a  church  machinery  more  elaborate  than  any 
other  in  the  world.  They  will  not  be  pried  out  of  place  by  knitting-need- 
les. Archimedean  levers  will  be  required. 

It  has  been  urged  that  the  whole  matter  can  be  safely  left  to  the  irre- 
pressible conflict  of  free  opinions ;  that  out  of  it  the  true  will  be  evoked, 
and  the  false  engulfed.  It  has  been  thus  left.  Nineteen  years  ago  the 
people  of  the  United  States  placed  upon  the  page  of  the  nation's  laws,  a 
clear  expression  of  their  wish  as  to  one  phase  of  social  relationship.  The 
Supreme  Court  has  decided  that  they  have  the  right  so  to  do.  For  nine- 
teen years  the  wish  has  been  disregarded — sneered  at.  The  laws  which 
bind  the  citizens  of  every  State  in  the  Union,  fail  to  bind  the  citizens  of 
Utah.  "  Gentile  polygamists,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  are  in  jail."  A  Mor- 
mon polygamist  is  in  Congress.  How  ?  Why  ?  Read  any  of  the  argu- 
ments by  which  it  is  sought  to  be  proved  that  the  wisest  course  to  pursue 
is  to  "let  it  alone,"  "let  it  die  of  natural,  inbred  diseases,"  and  by  insert- 
ing the  word  slavery  where  we  now  see  polygamy  we  shall  find  ourselves 
face  to  face  with  the  same  logic  in  vogue  about  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  when  the  clear,  right  line  of  good  governmental  policy 
was  obscured,  and  that  great  evil  from  a  small  beginning  was  allowed  to 
grow  undisturbed,  until  it  had  absorbed  so  many  interests,  formed  in  its 
advocates  so  many  habits,  and  grown  so  great  by  what  it  fed  upon,  that 
when  the  struggle  came  between  Slavery  and  Freedom,  the  nation  was 


24 

purged  of  its  evil  in  a  convulsion  that  well-nigh  took  its  life.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  history  will  not  repeat  of  polygamy  what  it  has  written  of 
slavery.  Our  constitution  is  strong  and  elastic,  it  has  borne  much,  but  it 
could  not  bear  slavery.  Will  it  hold,  under  the  strain  of  polygamy  ? 

There  are  many  heresies  and  schisms  in  the  church.  That  is  not  to  be 
denied.  But  they  have  existed  heretofore,  and  no  organization  is  free  from 
them.  In  spite  of  their  disintegrating  influence,  the  evil  as  a  whole  grows. 
Something  akin  to  the  power  that  produced  the  excrescence  must  be  em- 
ployed to  remove  it 

It  has  been  asked  why  the  dissatisfied  ones  do  not  break  away  from 
their  bonds.  Why  did  not  the  negro  emancipate  himself  ?  A  world  has 
been  created  for  them  to  live  in  ;  an  atmosphere  made  for  them  to  breathe  ; 
children  have  been  born  to  them  ;  a  hope  of  heaven  inspired  in  them,  by 
way  of  Mormonism  ;  a  fear  of  what  the  world  will  say  of  them  has  been 
taught.  Within  is  all  they  have.  Without  they  know  not  what  is  in  store 
for  them,  and  they  cling  to  their  delusive  system  in  hopes  that  by  and  by, 
they  know  not  when  nor  how,  a  way  of  escape  will  be  opened  to  them. 

Shall  they  be  disappointed?  With  the  Mormon  church,  as  such,  as- 
serting its  peculiar  belief,  maintaining  its  dogmas,  however  atrocious,  and 
securing  its  proselytes  by  the  power  of  the  press  and  the  pulpit,  the 
Government  has  little  to  do,  if  it  violates  no  law  of  the  land,  and  does  not 
outrage  the  civil  polity  of  the  Republic.  Their  fantastic  rites  and  delud- 
ing ceremonies  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  will  be,  but  by  other  forces. 
The  Mormon  has  as  good  a  legal  right  to  his  religious  belief  and  church 
worship,  as  the  Methodist,  or  the  Episcopalian,  has  to  his.  All  sects,  how- 
ever, must  be  under  the  law  of  the  land.  There  must  be  .no  divided 
sovereignty.  In  the  realm  of  law  the  State  dominates. 

In  invoking  the  aid  of  Congress  and  the  executive,  it  will  be  well  to  ask 
for  one  thing  at  a  time.  Polygamy,  the  central  figure  of  Mormonism,  is  its 
chief  abomination.  The  Supreme  Court  has  indicated  a  needful  remedy  at 
the  hands  of  Congress.  Ask  for  it,  and  whatever  else  is  needed  to  enable 
the  officers  of  Utah  to  detect,  convict,  and  punish  polygamy.  Congress 
may  be  slow  to  act ;  it  usually  is.  Reformers  are  not  always  in  Congress  ; 
great  and  wise  ones,  but  seldom.  Reforms  do  not  usually  owe  their 
origin  to  the  city  of  Washington.  Legislators  are  conservative.  The 
covereign  of  the  United  States  is  not  in  the  capitol,  nor  is  he  domiciled  in 
the  White  House.  The  declarations  of  the  campaign  speaker  are  true, 
after  all.  The  scepter  is  in  the  hande  of  the  People.  The  residence  of  our 
sovereign  is  the  home  of  the  citizen.  The  ministers  always  at  court,  and 
through  whom  he  can  always  be  reached,  and  to  whom  he  always  yields  a 
ready  response,  are  a  free  press,  a  free  pulpit,  and  a  free  platform.  In- 
voke the  aid  of  these  trusted  servants,  and  when  the  sovereign  speaks, 
Senators  and  Cabinets  and  Congressmen  will  act,  and  stand  not  on  the 
order  of  their  acting,  in  haste  to  obey.  The  statute  asked  for  will  be  forth- 
coming. 


25 

The  subject  of  polygamy  may  come  before  Congress,  brought  there 
upon  questions  growing  out  of  the  recent  election  of  a  delegate  from  that 
Territory.  No  person,  whether  guilty  of  crime  or  not,  can  be  excluded 
from  the  Senate,  or  House  of  ^Representatives,  by  law,  since  the  Constitu- 
tion provides  that  "  each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  re- 
turns, and  qualifications  of  its  own  members."  Just  how  far  Congress 
would  deem  it  wise  to  carry  the  analogy  between  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  a  delegate  and  a  member  of  Congress,  it  is  impossible 
to  state. 

The  act  of  1850,  organizing  Utah  as  a  Territory,  declares  that  the  quali- 
fications of  voters  at  the  first  election  shall  be,  "  citizens  of  the  United 
States,"  "  white  males,  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upward."  For  all  sub- 
sequent elections  the  qualifications  are  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial legislature  and  the  approval  of  Congress. 

All  Mormons  are  not  polygamists,  and  if  those  who  practice  it  were  dis- 
franchised, the  election  to  Congress  of  a  person  guilty  of  that  crime  would 
be  well-nigh  impossible.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  so  harsh  a  remedy  will 
not  become  necessary.  We 'certainly  have  a  right  to  expect  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Utah  will,  under  milder  treatment,  see  the  folly  and  treasonable- 
ness  of  maintaining  very  much  longer  their  attitude  of  open  defiance  to 
law.  If  disfranchisement  is  the  only  course  that  will  prove  finally  effica- 
cious, let  it  come,  for  a  religious  and  civil  despotism,  lodged  in  the  midst  of 
the  nation,  defying  its  just  laws,  must  be  extirpated,  and  by  the  employ- 
ment of  that  degree  of  severity  which  its  stubbornness  may  demand. 

Turning  from  the  realm  of  law  and  of  government,  and  the  remedies  we 
seek  there,  we  must  also  invoke  the  aid  of  purely  moral  forces  for  the  sup- 
pression of  those  evils  with  which  law  and  government  have  nothing  to  do. 
Ignorance  and  superstition  are  of  one  family.  Fanaticism  is  only  mis- 
placed and  misapplied  zeal.  Truth  is  the  cure  for  all  moral  maladies. 
Greater  and  more  convincing  than  law,  more  powerful  than  all  the 
enginery  of  government,  is  the  influence  of  the  life,  example,  and  death  of 
that  Personage  who  preached  in  Galilee,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Let  the  light  of  truth  shine  in  upon  this  gloomy 
error.  Pour  the  literature  of  the  gospel  into  that  valley,  in  an  unstinted 
flood.  Teach  that  people  the  old  lesson,  that  between  every  human  soul 
and  its  God,  there  is  a  direct  and  open  road  that  even  a  child  can  travel 
with  perfect  safety.  The  same  beneficent  constitution  which  guards  the 
Mormon  in  his  faith,  will  protect  the  Home  Missionary  and  the  colporteur 
in  his  work.  Brush  away  from  the  windows  of  the  Mormon  soul  the  dust 
and  cobwebs  of  credulity  and  priestly  delusion,  and  let  it  look  out  un- 
vexed  upon  a  new  world,  bathed  in  the  sunlight  of  God's  love,  which 
needs  the  intervention  of  no  human  machinery,  no  lens  of  priesthood  to 
give  it  power  over  human  hearts. 

The  same  methods  by  which  Christianity  has  been  carried  into  the 
jungles  of  India  and  the  wilds  of  Africa  will  be  required  to  carry  and  hold 


it  in  Utah.  The  citadel  of  polygamous  Mormonism  must  be  invested  by  a 
Christian  army,  as  other  strongholds  of  heathenism  have  been  besieged. 
Without  a  tinge  of  persecution,  not  a  color  of  intolerance,  in  the  spirit  of 
love,  not  hate,  put  the  right  against  the  wrong,  and  leave  the  issue  to  the 
Master.  Plant  the  school  beside  the  church.  Place  the  teacher  by  the 
side  of  the  missionary.  This  is  a  battle  to  be  won  with  the  Bible  and  the 
school-book* 

There  is  no  free  public  school  in  Utah,  but  an  Academy  in  the  charge 
of  a  hard-working  Christian  minister  has  been  established  in  Salt  Lake 
City.  Sustain  it — that  it  may  be  made  to  furnish  the  needed  teachers.  A 
little  band  of  devoted  women  have  begun  there  the  anti-polygamy  cru- 
sade, and  have  started  a  paper,  the  Anti-Polygamy  Standard.  Aid  them. 
Circulate  their  paper.  If  the  wives  and  mothers  of  America  are  made 
fully  aware  of  the  extent  and  character  of  this  degradation  of  their  sex, 
and  informed  of  the  need  of  their  sympathy  and  support,  the  on-rushing 
tide  of  public  sentiment  they  will  set  in  motion  will  sweep  away  polygamy 
in  a  year. 

Let  this  organization — the  American  Home  Missionary  Society — enter 
the  field  in  force  ;  call  upon  the  people  everywhere  for  aid.  Let  it  be  im- 
portunate in  its  demands. 

"And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,"  said  the  Master,  "will  draw  all  men  unto 
me."  Lift  up  the  Master  in  Utah.  Plant  the  sanctified  Cross  in  every 
valley  of  the  Territory.  Place  at  its  foot  the  purest,  broadest-brained, 
largest-hearted  Christian  men  that  can  be  found,  to  tell  again  and  again 
"  the  old,  old  story,"  more  potent  than  the  sword,  deeper-reaching  than 
the  law,  and  in  the  fullness  of  his  time,  this  relic  of  barbarism,  this  citadel 
of  error,  this  moral  Bastile,  will  go  down  in  irreparable  disaster,  as  the 
walls  of  Jericho  went  down  before  the  encompassing  hosts  of  Israel 


i 


Lithomount 
Pamphlet 

Binder 
Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 
Stockton,  Calif. 

PAT.  JAN  21.  1908 


